The Indian team lost a closely fought encounter against the host Bangladesh. Earlier, Bangladeshi stand-in skipper Litton Das won the toss and elected to bowl first, and his bowlers proved him right by sending the top 3 Indian batters into the hut within the first 10 overs of the Inning. Then, some rebuilding was done by in-form batter Shreyas Iyer and Indian vice-captain KL Rahul. India’s number 4 departed after playing a prestigious knock of 24 of 39 balls on this sluggish Mirpur track but from one end, KL Rahul was the lone warrior from the Indian team, but he also departed when all his companions left him frustrated to play the rash shot against Ebadoot Hossain’s short pitch delivery and got caught, and with the help of India’s vice-captain fighting 73 runs knock the visitors have put a mere target of 187 runs on the board for the host to chase.
For the host, their most experienced all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan was their star performer by scalping 5 wickets in 10 overs, and premium pacer Ebadoot Hossain provided him good company from another end by picking up 4 overs in 8.2 overs. Other Bangladeshi bowlers also supported these two by keeping the scoring rate down.
Bangladesh made the mess of the chase, and at one time, it felt that the Indian team had command in the match, but thanks to the magical 11th wicket 52 runs partnership between Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Mustafizur Rahman, the host won this match.
In the chase, Indian opening bowlers Deepak Chahar and Md Siraj were getting a substantial amount of swing from the pitch and sent the 2 batters of the host team within the first 10 overs, and they also kept the scoring rate very tight. Then stand-in skipper Litton Das and experienced Shakib Al Hasan took the onus on their shoulder and started a rebuilding phase for the host team. Both the set batters got out of the bowling of Washington Sundar one after another. After these breakthroughs, Indian bowlers were all over the Bangladeshi batters till the 11th wicket partnership. For the Indian team, Md Siraj was the star performer with the ball as he finished his quota of 10 overs by counting mere 32 runs and picked up 3 wickets. Washington Sundar well supported Siraj from one end, who got 2 wickets in his 10 overs. Bangladeshi batters also got a good amount of support from the Indian fielder, who dropped too many chances on the field.
After the loss, the Indian team will be hoping for a stronger comeback in the next match to level the 3-match series. The next encounter will be played on 7th of Decemeber at the same venue.
